Thank you all very much
I'd like to begin by thanking GLSEN and the sponsors of this award.
It means so much to me, and to my family, and my community to be receiving this honor.
I'm truly humbled. So thank you.
*Applause*
I thought I'd start tonight with something a little weird.
These are real diary entries that I have from eighth grade. The end of eighth grade. I have them with me. They're right here. I'm going to read from them now.
This one is dated March 23rd, 2010.
I'm ahead on homework and I got cast as the part I wanted in the play. Last week was very good.
I'm tired and I have a headache and I don't feel like going to bed. Not much to say.
I hope nobody reads this, but right now I think I might be gay.
I'm scared and I don't want to be a lesbian even though I know it will be okay.
I just hope that I can find my identity sooner or later and be truly comfortable with who I am.
This next one is dated June 9th, 2010.
I just had a band concert. I don't know if I'm gay or not. I have a crush on a girl.
It would make life so much harder. However I can't deny these feelings.
I wish I could be like Allison. She's bisexual and totally okay with it.
*Applause*
I don't know if I should tell mom. I'd rather tell Allison first because of her experience with the situation.
It will all be okay, but how will I tell all of my friends.
I guess I need to talk to Allison. She will understand.
And get this. I have a crush on...and I am not going to read that name that is written right there.
So that's how I entered high school.
I was closeted, I was unsure, I was awkward, and I was terrified.
And I had only come out to my parents, my older sister, and one close friend, and that was it.
And when I got to high school there was nothing. There were no openly gay kids I could look up to
There were very few allies that I had apart from my family.
And there were no conversations about LGBT issues.
So i stayed closeted for a whole year.
And this is basically where my work as an activist began.
I saw the problem on my campus and so I decided to start fixing it.
I became more and more involved with my school's Gay Straight Alliance to the point where I became vice president my sophomore year.
Then my junior year I became president of the club.
And in the course of that single year we were basically able to transform our campus and its attitudes towards LGBT issues and acceptance.
Now what I'd like to share with you are some of the things I've learned as an activist.
So first thing.
Visible allies are incredibly important.
And when I say visible allies I mean allies who make their support well known.
Because I can't tell just by looking at you if you're an ally, just like you can't tell just by looking at me that I'm gay.
And when allies make their support well know the effect is tremendous.
Case in point. The two teachers that I have here with me tonight:
Miss Van Steenbergen, the journalism teacher who helped me come out in the school news paper,
and Miss Madison, my GSA advisor.
*Applause*
You have no idea how much I look up to these women.
They're truly my role models.
They have Safe Space stickers in their classrooms, they use inclusive language,
they make sure that all of their students know that they are loved.
Their acceptance and their support, it affirms my identity. It makes me more comfortable with who I am.
But we have to realize that their love would be lost if they didn't openly express it.
So if no one around you knows that you're an ally, then you can't claim that you're an ally at all.
Our parents, our teachers, our friends, our celebrities, our political leaders need to make their support well known.
*Applause*
And in fact it was these allies in my life that gave me the confidence to come out in my school newspaper, which brings me to point number two.
It's my responsibility to pass on the love and the acceptance that I get from my parents and my family.
You know when I was thinking about coming out publicly
I looked around me. And in all of my classes I was the only gay kid I knew of.
In all my friend groups I was the only gay kid I could think of. And that wasn't right.
I wanted to be a role model for my peers. I wanted to show them that being openly gay...it's not that bad.
I wanted to send a message to all my closeted peers. I wanted to tell them that they weren't alone.
And I was terrified.
I was so scared that people would stop talking to me or people would bully me
Like, I'd be sitting in science one day laughing with my lab partner
and I'd think, "You know in a couple days when you read my article, you're probably never going to talk to me again."
Coming out publicly was terrifying.
But I knew that the whole way through I would always have my family, and I would always have my friends, and I would always have my allies.
And this support that I got from home...it contained my fear. It gave me the power to do the right thing.
So finally, I'll finish by high lighting that all of the change that has happened at my school
has really only been by the device of a few students.
Collin Kirkwood, Grace Halverson, Chris Madison our teacher, and myself.
And...you know it doesn't take thousands to mobilize change.
It just takes a few motivated people, some help from outside organizations like GLSEN,
and imagine how many more people we could have helped if there were just a few more activists on our side.
So through my work as an activist, I've made my campus a safer place for LGBTQ teens. Myself included.
I began high school living in fear. But I'm ending it open and proud.
*Applause*
And so to emphasize that point, I've got two more journal entries.
These are real entries again. These are from the night just after my coming out article was published.
This one is dated May 8th.
Well now I understand why I've been so tense lately.
Man, you should have seen me 6th period when they handed out the papers. This issue has been boiling since spring break.
I didn't do my homework because I knew I had to relax after a crazy day.
Lisa is amazing. So is Matty. Alyssa, Kamaliya, Grace, Jackson, Gabby, Mom, Dad, Miss B, Megan, Alex, and everyone in journalism and Dillon. It was a great day.
This one is dated the day after.
Phew! Lot's of great feedback today. Really touched by Natalie, Rebecca, Kim, and Molly.
It's working. What a great message it sends to all the closeted students when a gay kid gets applauded for coming out.
Gotta go. AP English tomorrow. Wish me luck.
Thank you.